The night between Sunday and Saturday was a noisy one :the horn was honking a major part of the night and even in the morning on Monday. Later in the day the wind was strong 29 knots at 16:00 and 32 around 19:00.
Ecological
The first sea lions (californians) were on their favorite spot ,the flat rocks closed to the jetty. We discovered 1 and pretty soon they were 3 and among them a huge one .We have to get ready for a very noisy environment ;even 2 of them can be very tiring ,so when you think about hundreds of them…plugs plugs ! …but we are lucky ,they are late , last year they were already here at this time . No more elephant seal on the rock. I miss them a lot! For now we have found 7 dead chicken bodies,mainly because of territorial fights.
Boats
Many watching boats and some beautiful sailboats (those ones not in the ecological reserve). Actually one came on Saturday and it was something to see it speeding with the current and without engine.
Maintenance
The fire pump died! this old timer was worn out even if it worked pretty well to now! Solar panel pretty dirty and the whole island ,alleys and rocks,roofs …everything is mainly white because of the gulls .Rain will be welcome.
On Friday the morning was calm ,the wind coming from West picked up only late in the afternoon at 25 knots at the most.The visibility was over 15 miles and air felt like 16 degrees celsius at 5:00 AM.Te water temperature was 12 degrees and the barometric pressure 101.4 KPA.Sunrise at 5.44 and sunset at 20:54. On Saturday it has been really calm especially around noon where it was 0.26 knots and the flag looked like dead. On Sunday very calm in the morning and very windy in the afternoon to midnight around 35 knots;a North East wind becoming West later. July has been a pretty windy month !
Maintenance and other
On Friday, Aziz recorded more videos :by example the whaler in action and we brought him back to Pearson College before noon. We came back just in time around 5:00 because at 7:00 the wind was around 28 knots and reached 30 knots at 10:00PM. We had a plane above like usual at the end of the week. On Saturday Guy disassembled the derrick shed door that need to be changed.The seawater pump was on for a few hours . On Saturday I sent the end of the month report and the Seawater datas
Boats
We had a parade of watching boats without interruption the whole day on Saturday!!! and some divers spent a long time on South Rocks ! they could stand up! I wished we had an horn!
At 5:00: Light west wind , air temperature :12 degrees,a little bit foggy to 7:20.AM .It has been a calm day ,25 knots at the most around 9:30 PM.
Ecological
We found a 2nd chick always at the same spot with the guts over( back stairs /Eco -guardian’s house). more sea lions mainly on Middle rocks.later in the day another dead body . this time injury on the neck on a pretty big chick.
Boats
Many watching vessels, a huge barge with some equipment on it
Other
A plane above
Visitors
Aziz Sonawalla
Kyle and Tyron came for a quick tour and Aziz was with them ready for a non stop recording of everything on the Island. Aziz was a second year student at Pearson college and is working this Summer in the Communication department.he followed us all day long from early morning to late in the evening. and stayed over night. He tried to catch all the wildlife and the Beauty around . The purpose of this video is to show and explain the reserve to all the concerned people .
It was very foggy in the morning at 5:00 with fog horn on even in the night between Tuesday and Wednesday. it honks to 10 AM.After it was sunny and the wind picked up to 28 knots in the evening
Ecological
We found the first Sea lions sleeping on Main rock Today behind the student’s house and later we discovered around 20 of them on Middle Rock :they are back . Many harbour seals and babies on the rocks around.
Maintenance
We went to the student’s house to do some needed cleaning in the kitchen and tidying up .
Boats
We had many watching boats That day and among them we had the surprise to see 2 guys with diving suit (one from the Navy) standing up on their surf boards with oars to propulse them. The tides and currents were OK but imagine 50 or more people doing the same ! They were in the middle of the passage but not closed enough to make them go! We checked to be sure they left safe and it took at least half an hour.They had some diving materiel with them on a bag .
Visitors
Kyle brought a long time friend for a short visit.
It has been a very windy day. At 5:00AM we had 34 knots with a gale warning in effect ;the sea was choppy and we had a clear sky with 10 miles of visibility. At 7:45 AM it was still around 33 knots and after a decrease at 19 knots at the end of the morning the wind picked up again and stayed strong between 25 to 28 late in the evening.
ecological
5 geese visiting on Main,no Sealions,only on Elephant seal the adult male . More gulls have returned
Maintenance
The camera on the gulls have been cleaned and stored. The seawater pump has been on for 4 hours and the desalinator for 6 hours. We cleaned the dirty panels as usual and sweeped the alleys full of feathers. We got the whaler back and everything is working well,he starts OK now.
We had a very windy Friday . The whole day the wind stayed around 30 knots from 5:00 AM to 18:00 PM . The rest of the WE was beautiful but foggy at night and in the morning. The fog horn has been working a lot those last mornings and nights but in the afternoons it has been really gorgeous .
Maintenance
The pump has been working for 8 hours in the WE, actually 4 hours each day, at the high tide and more hours will be necessary. The zodiac is now clean underneath and will be lighter and faster. Usual chores ;we have to clean the house windows almost 2 times a day.
Ecological
First flying exercises for the older chickens. I found a dead body with the guts above ! River otter ‘s job pretty sure. At the most 15 Sea lions on the adjacent rocks . Not one on Main and only 2 elephant seals .they have lost a lot of weight now.
Boats
Many watching vessels and because there is not so much to see they make people enjoy their speed ,forgetting sometimes or often, where they are .
Larus glaucescens is omnivorous, feeding on carrion, fish, invertebrates, seaweed and food stolen from other birds. One of the main sources of food for Glaucous-winged gull are the softer bodied invertebrates exposed during the low tide time at Race Rocks. It is also typical of their behavior to take their hard shelled food, such as clams, or gastropods and drop them onto rocks to break them open for eating.
Courtship
Breeding
Eggs harching
Predation
Chick
waiting for food
This species is the only species of gull that nests on Great Race Rock. From June to September, there could be over 150 nests on the island. The adults also overwinter at Race Rocks, but occasionally disappear from the islands for a few weeks. They start their complicated behaviours aimed at establishing territories and bonding with mates as early as February or March. Their eggs are laid in June and hatching takes place in early July. In the 2002 season, 100 birds fledged successfully, after several years of failed nesting, probably due to fish shortages in the surrounding waters.
Sept. 15, 2005… Almost every day now in the morning, the bald eagles make a swoop around the island .
A fresh carcass of a juvenile is the result.
Here Diomedes demonstrates the webbed feet of the gull
In September, the clean looking feathers of the neck and head take on a mottled gray appearance as they undergo an annual moult.
The following pictures were taken by Ecoguardian Christine Ouradou in July of 2016 and appear in logs from that time.
Feeding time
Glaucous winged gull chicks
In this picture by Evan Ferrari , the young juveniles, capable of flight, still hang around for a daily feeding from their parent
Domain: Eukarya
Kingdom :Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum :Vertebrata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family :Laridae
Genus: Larus
Species :glaucescens
Common Name: Glaucous-Winged Gull
The Glaucous winged Gull,
In June of 2000, David Mesiha and Satoshi Kimura (PC yr 25) made videos of different aspects of gull behavior while staying on the island. Thus started the archiving of videos for racerocks.com
June 1-16 : Aggression between males is frequent. This takes the form of plucking grass in a standoff and in beak pulling. In this way territories are defined as the nests are being built.
May 1: Breeding in the colony has started and will continue throughout May and June.
This video was taken in early July, 2001, from the north window of the Marine Science centre at Race Rocks. It shows the second day in the life of a sea gull chick. The parents feed the chick a small fish, probably herring or needlefish.
In June, 2016, Lester Pearson College set up a live camera to follow the development of one of the Glaucous-winged Gull nests with eggs in the Race Rocks Ecological Reserve . Also the camera had infrared night vision.
The Race Rocks taxonomy is a collaborative venture originally started with the Biology and Environmental Systems students of Lester Pearson College UWC. It now also has contributions added by Faculty, Staff, Volunteers and Observers on the remote controlwebcams.
Original text by Juan Pablo Hoffmaister, PC student Dec. 2001
West light wind in the morning,visibility:over 10 miles,sky :clear. In the afternoon the wind increased strongly to 35 knots at 9:PM and still 33 knots at 10:00 .In the evening fog and fog horn on.Water temperature :12.2 and salinity:30.4. Dusk before 9:30 PM.(1/2 h sooner than a month ago). Phenomenal sunset with some fog on the sea and some lightning on dark grey sky and a rainbow later!
Ecological
Only 8 sea lions and 2 elephant seals :the bigger one and a small female (Chunck is gone) 5 geese visiting.
Boats
Heavy US navy boat going to the ocean. Watching boats.
Visitors
kyle and Jeff from the college came to make a general check up of all the equipment on the rock:hydro,water,security,roofs,electricity,propane,cisterns…They went all around and took notes.
Visitors
